Tag Archives: Human Rights violations in Venezuela

Aug
23
2013
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In Case You Missed It…Articles Roundup Week of 8/23/13

capriles.520.360 e1377285185692 In Case You Missed It…Articles Roundup Week of 8/23/13

Courtesy of: El Universal

This week: Nicolás Maduro tries to pass an Enabling Law, which would grant him increased decree powers in his alleged fight against corruption; and Henrique Capriles says that if they law was somehow passed, Venezuelans would disregard it. The Venezuelan government hurls anti-gay slurs at the opposition as part of their “war on corruption,” while continuing to preach social inclusion; eight senior journalists quit Venezuela’s former opposition news channel, Globovisión, in protest of government manipulation; and due to increasing government control of the media, Venezuelan officials are communicating first through Twitter, not TV or radio. PSUV members are angry at Maduro for skipping the grassroots election preceding December’s municipal election; infighting and corruption in Maduro’s party threaten Hugo Chávez’s socialist legacy in Venezuela;   the Central Bank issues more bonds to curb liquidity and attempts to boost the failing economy by auctioning $300 million in the currency exchange system; and Venezuelan doctors demand that the government declare a health emergency in the county.

Showdown looms in Venezuela over decree powers plan, Reuters

Venezuelan politicians traded insults over the weekend with a showdown looming in the National Assembly over President Nicolas Maduro’s plans to ask for fast-track decree powers he says he needs to combat corruption. Maduro, who narrowly won an April election to replace his late mentor Hugo Chavez, says he is ready to change “all the laws” if necessary to stamp out widespread graft that is denting his popularity with some core supporters.

Capriles: “If passed, Venezuelans would disregard the Enabling Law”, El Universal

“I say responsibly to the country that if they (pro-government officials) want to pass an Enabling Law throughout abuses and disregarding the Constitution, we, Venezuelans would disregard such law,” Henrique Capriles Radonski, Miranda state Governor and opposition leader stressed on Tuesday on his live web show Venezuela Somos Todos (“Venezuela is all of us”) as he commented that President Nicolás Maduro would request special legislative powers via an Enabling Law to the National Assembly in order to allegedly fight against corruption.

Venezuela Government Under Fire for Anti-Gay Slurs, Wall Street Journal

Venezuela’s leftist government, which often touts its social inclusion and antidiscrimination policies, is under fire from rights groups after a tirade of antigay slurs in the National Assembly, prompting President Nicolas Maduro to take to the airwaves waving a conciliatory gay-pride flag—before continuing to attack his political opponents. Lawmakers from Mr. Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela released photos that appeared to be from a private gathering in which a top aide to the opposition’s former presidential candidate is seen hugging other men and, in others, mugging for the camera while wearing a shawl and a feathered head piece.

Journalists Quit Venezuela TV News Channel in Censorship Protest, Bloomberg

Eight senior journalists quit Venezuela’s main television news channel Globovision in the past week in protest at alleged government manipulation of coverage. “We have progressively seen changes and unacceptable conditions to the free exercise of our profession,” the anchors and reporters at the broadcaster said in a joint e-mailed statement late yesterday. The journalists resigned in solidarity with director Leopoldo Castillo, who announced his exit from Globovision on Aug. 16 after 12 years at the channel.

Latin American presidents and their often love affair with Twitter, Associated Press

Whenever Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez uses Twitter, controversy often follows. Although tweet discussions range in content and frequency, there’s never a lack of debate. Fernandez, who almost never gives interviews or takes questions from reporters, often uses her official Twitter account, https://twitter.com/CFKArgentina , which claims more than 2.2 million followers, to have a direct connection to the people.

Maduro’s explanation for skipping grassroots election is rebutted, El Universal

Since its foundation in 2007, the ruling United Party of Venezuela (Psuv) has gone through at least four grassroots elections in preparation of  several municipal, state and parliamentary polls, even for the election of Psuv authorities. This is not the case for the municipal election to be held next December 8. This time, top authorities took care of it. The decision, ultimately in the hands of the High Political Command of the Revolution, was justified recently by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Hugo Chávez: His legacy at stake, Financial Times

When almost 500 families invaded the estate owned by the Santa Teresa rum company in 2000, Alberto Vollmer decided that using brute force to expel them would be futile. Hugo Chávez had just won the presidency and was encouraging Venezuelans to squat on private land. So instead, Mr Vollmer devised a plan to allow some families to remain, so long as the government paid for their housing.

Venezuela Opens Bidding Process for Latest Dollar Auction, Wall Street Journal

Venezuela authorities began accepting bids Wednesday for the government’s latest hard currency auction, which will offer for the first time dollar-denominated bonds issued last year among the $330 million slated to be injected into the import-heavy economy. The central bank will take bids until Thursday from companies in the food sector, those importing goods for the holiday season in December and firms looking to buy textiles and chemicals, among a limited group of permitted participants.

Venezuelan Doctors Say Country Faces Health Emergency, Latin American Herald Tribune

The president of the Venezuelan Medical Association asked the Venezuelan government Tuesday to declare a health emergency and take steps to address serious problems with the Andean nation’s healthcare system. “We demand… a healthcare emergency be declared here in Venezuela,” Dr. Douglas Leon said during a press conference in Caracas.

 
Aug
19
2013
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ICYMI: Venezuela Government Under Fire for Anti-Gay Slurs

Wall Street Journal
August 15, 2013
By Kejal Vyas and Ezequiel Minaya

WO AP040 VENGAY G 20130816182829 e1376937194509 ICYMI: Venezuela Government Under Fire for Anti Gay Slurs

Courtesy of: Reuters

CARACAS—Venezuela’s leftist government, which often touts its social inclusion and antidiscrimination policies, is under fire from rights groups after a tirade of antigay slurs in the National Assembly, prompting President Nicolas Maduro to take to the airwaves waving a conciliatory gay-pride flag—before continuing to attack his political opponents.

Lawmakers from Mr. Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela released photos that appeared to be from a private gathering in which a top aide to the opposition’s former presidential candidate is seen hugging other men and, in others, mugging for the camera while wearing a shawl and a feathered head piece.

Though the pictures showed nothing lurid, the lawmakers charged that they were “unquestionable” proof of the opposition’s “moral degradation” and evidence of their involvement with “prostitutes” and orgies.

Socialist party congressman Pedro Carreño said “we in the revolution accept sexual diversity,” before using antigay slurs and vulgarities to describe the opposition leader Henrique Capriles and his Primero Justicia party.

The following day, Mr. Carreño apologized, adding, “but I had to put them in their place.”

Ramón José Medina, a director of the opposition coalition, dismissed the allegations as trumped-up efforts by government officials to divert attention from the mountain of economic and social problems plaguing Venezuela, including high crime and an inflation rate topping 40%.

“All of this is clearly an attempt to attack those close to Capriles,” he said.

He said some of the photos as well as receipts to a party-services company cited by Socialist party lawmakers to support allegations of corruption came from property seized during the search of the aide’s residence a week ago.

He said they do not prove any wrongdoing and added that officials were violating the law by publicly showcasing private property. “We’re still trying to figure out what offense they say was committed here,” Mr. Medina said.

Activist groups said the slurs followed a pattern of increasing demonization of homosexuals in the political arena during the past year amid a pair of hard-fought presidential elections. Last October, Mr. Capriles came close to beating former President Hugo Chávez, who died of cancer in March.

Politicians in Venezuela use gay and transgender slurs to “destroy” political adversaries, said Yonatan Matheus, director of the gay advocacy group Venezuela Diversa.

Venezuela has one of the least friendly legal environments toward the gay community in the Spanish-speaking Americas, experts said. Homosexual acts are legal but civil-unions aren’t recognized, in contrast to an increasing number of other countries in the region, said Javier Corrales, a political-science professor at Amherst College, who has written on homosexual and transgender issues in Latin America.

Allies of Venezuela like Argentina and Uruguay have both moved forward with legalizing gay marriage. Meanwhile in Ecuador, courts fined a former presidential candidate earlier this year and stripped him of his political rights for one year after he made homophobic comments.

Mr. Chávez, who often celebrated diversity and inclusion policies toward women, blacks and indigenous peoples, steered clear of the issue.

“What happened in the National Assembly will go down in history as one of the most aggressively homophobic acts in contemporary Latin America,” Mr. Corrales said. “The government is hoping that the public becomes more scandalized by issues of ‘indecency’ than by issues of actual money-related corruption.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Maduro appeared on television holding a rainbow-colored flag and said that he was in solidarity with people of different sexual orientation but backed his ally, Mr. Carreño, calling him an “honorable man.”

He then went on the offensive again, accusing Mr. Capriles of holding orgies in his office. What was shown in the National Assembly, “is only 1% of all that has been uncovered. The orgy videos and photos aren’t publishable…it would be denigrating to the human condition,” the president said.

Mr. Maduro, facing growing criticism of alleged government corruption in his regime, has promised to tackle widespread graft but his withering rhetoric so far has focused almost exclusively on his political foes.

During the presidential campaign in April, Mr. Maduro used gay slurs against Mr. Capriles and other political rivals. Mr. Maduro later offered a tacit apology on state television.

“This is what I would call the pattern of a state that’s schizophrenic,” said Tamara Adrián, a Venezuelan lawyer, professor and local gay and transsexual rights advocate.

Ms. Adrián said Venezuela has signed international accords for protection of sexual diversity, “but it’s not what we see every day,” citing frequent cases of harassment and violent crimes against lesbians and gays.

To read this article at Wall Street Journal, please click here.

 
May
8
2013
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Nicolás Maduro off to an inauspicious start as Venezuela’s dubiously-elected president

Nicolas Maduro e1368042661461 Nicolás Maduro off to an inauspicious start as Venezuela’s dubiously elected president

Courtesy of: Agence France Presse

Almost immediately after Venezuela’s partisan electoral authority declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of last month’s presidential election, he and his ruling PSUV party faced a choice that may yet define Venezuela’s future for years to come. Reports of thousands of irregularities in the voting process, including suspicions of fraud, sparked fears about the election’s legitimacy. The actions of Maduro – who first consented to the opposition’s calls for a full and transparent recount, later issued a hasty retraction, and then began a crackdown on peaceful opposition protestors – has only deepened those fears.

Maduro’s desperation is perhaps well-founded: a poll today found that a majority of Venezuelans believe the country is on the wrong track and, if given the chance, most would now choose Henrique Capriles for president over Maduro. The uncertainty and repression surrounding the Venezuelan election has grown so egregious that President Obama has abstained from recognizing Maduro as the winner. The President observed that the “entire hemisphere has been watching the violence, the protests, the crackdowns on the opposition.” ABC reports:

President Barack Obama avoided recognizing the government of Venezuela during an interview with Univision, explaining that he was concerned about recent “crackdowns” against members of the Venezuelan opposition. He also said that recent reports suggest that basic principles of democracy and human rights are not being fully observed by Venezuela’s government.

Obama and the U.S. State Department are among a growing chorus calling for a full and transparent recount of the Venezuelan election, a chorus that now includes the Organization of American States, former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, and internationally-respected human rights watchdog groups. Though Maduro may lack Hugo Chávez’s charisma and support among Venezuelans, he evinces the same contempt for the international community.  That contempt, combined with Maduro’s increasingly flagrant repression of his own people, mean that recent weeks for Venezuela have been turbulent indeed.

It’s hard to deny that Maduro’s “election” lacks legitimacy, before the eyes of both Venezuelans and the world. The partial audit the government agreed to is viewed as little more than a public relations gesture, and hardly sufficient to investigate the serious voting irregularities that led many to wonder whether Capriles was the election’s true winner.

As those doubts grow, Maduro has flexed the government’s authoritarian muscle to stifle dissent and cow the opposition into obedience. The state-run media – which recently tightened its grip on the airwaves by purchasing the previously-independent TV station Globovision – has dutifully propagandized on behalf of Maduro; the government recently severed the video feed of a Capriles speech, preventing the opposition leader from making his case to Venezuelans.

Such tactics haven’t prevented the opposition from making their voice heard. The din of “Cacerola” protests resounds throughout the country. Capriles has filed an official protest with the country’s Supreme Court which, comprised of Maduro’s political allies, is unlikely to intervene. Maduro and the PSUV have met these peaceful expressions of dissent, however, with strongman tactics. Capriles called off an opposition March after the government issued a veiled-threat of violence against the protestors. Opposition lawmakers have been barred from speaking in the National Assembly. And a bloody brawl in the National Assembly injured 17 opposition lawmakers. Now the government has intimated it may throw Capriles in jail.

Such tactics, though they fly in the face of democracy and human rights, at least demonstrate that Maduro is feeling the pressure. The Economist opined after the election that “without Chávez at the helm, chavismo, a noxious cocktail of populism, incompetence and repression, is a far less potent force.” Nicolas Maduro cannot strong-arm his way to legitimacy. But that hasn’t stopped him trying.